19.1.2012 at 10:59

Hello Mr Kernspecht,

I have been misunderstood if people think that I have ever in my life had "fair sporting competition" in mind as a goal.

I have never accepted sport as a goal, and for this reason, as you know, I have made plenty of enemies.
I have often been known to say:
"If you want to ruin a good thing, you have to turn it into a sport or include it in a school curriculum".

But since there are schools and there is sport, and people hang around in them either because they must (school) or voluntarily (sport), you have to address them where you find them.

Another increasing phenomenon is the fight that is imposed on you in the street.

I certainly don't have the answers where this is concerned, as you can find yourself in situations for which I see no solutions at all.
And in my panic I can also cause damage which is afterwards judged to be disproportionate in the eyes of expert witnesses.

Having no answers, I once uttered the provocative opinion that it would be better to acquire some semi-skill:
"Learn to recognise early warning signs and train in light athletics, so that you can run away faster!"

And with this I promptly turned others into enemies!

I have no time at all for the sporting martial arts, except that this is where you have to rescue those people who delude themselves that they are safe.

I had a memorable experience on one of my skiing courses.
One evening a group of my students went to the local village bar.
As I was later told, one of my students was badly beaten up by a local lad (despite the group of students as spectators).

And this was the very student who had been world champion in his class in some karate style or other, as I found out later.

Best wishes
Horst Tiwald